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Help Muffled Sound When Live Streaming

L

Larry Cedar

Lurker
Greetings, and thanks for any help you can provide. I recently started live streaming in Instagram or Facebook using my Pixel 2XL. And while the microphone in my Pixel works perfectly fine when recording normal video, people attending my Instagram or Facebook Live Streams keep telling me that they can't hear me, that the volume is too low and that there's a lot of background noise. When I finish a Live Stream and save the session to for later viewing it also plays back at very low volume with lots of background noise, i.e. it's just plain hard to hear what I've said. I did trying running the Live Stream on Wi-Fi as well as turning off my bluetooth, but no luck. If anyone has had this problem and know how to fix it I would be most appreciative! Thanks!
 
You might want to try using an external microphone, that plugs into the USB Type-C port of your phone:
https://microphonebasics.com/best-usb-c-microphones/
Keep in mind that the integral mic in your phone has just that tiny pinhole opening to take in sound so it's going to be limited when it comes to picking up sounds that are further away than a foot or so. Also, it's probably optimized more for mono voice recording and less for quality stereo.
And don't be surprised if you have to try more than one microphone model to find one that works well with your phone, despite the 'Universal' in USB it's devolved into something of mess with different standards that compete with each other and are mostly backwards compatible but not always.
https://people.kernel.org/bleung/how-many-kinds-of-usb-c-to-usb-c-cables-are-there
I believe your Pixel 2 XL has a Type-C ver. 1.0 port.
 
Thanks for your advice! I've just order a SmartMike+ external microphone and will see how that works out. I've just been puzzled because the Pixel 2XL mic works so well when recording video but much less effectively when live streaming. Also, friends with iPhones don't have any of the same low volume issues I've experienced with live stream broadcasts.

But in any case I will be sure to check out your links.
 
Perhaps there's just some issue with a Livestream app itself that's the problem. Have you tried uninstalling the app and re-installing it?
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.livestream.livestream&hl=en_US
When doing the uninstall, tap on the 'Force stop' button, then find 'Clear data' and tap on that before 'Uninstall'. Using Clear data will wipe the app's settings and config files, along with the app's cache, essentially returning the app back to its original, first time used state. Just using 'Uninstall' may or may not do that, so you'll have to re-enter your Livestream account user name and password, and don't forget to go through the app's settings menu to again.
 
Larry Cedar said:
Thanks for your advice! I've just order a SmartMike+ external microphone and will see how that works out. I've just been puzzled because the Pixel 2XL mic works so well when recording video but much less effectively when live streaming. Also, friends with iPhones don't have any of the same low volume issues I've experienced with live stream broadcasts.

But in any case I will be sure to check out your links.
Click to expand...
My Pixel 6 has the same issue. It worked fine on my Pixel 3, but on the 6 Facebook Livestream sound is muffled. It's clear when recording a regular video though
 
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